Lightsabers, Leia and a Little Bit of Love
by ChristmasCrackers
Summary: After getting roped into attending Comic-Con by his boss, Edward is pleasantly surprised when Isabella is forced to man their company's booth with him.  A geeky love story about when you meet your perfect match among lightsabers, Leia and Leonard Nemoy.


**TwiGirlsNextDoor Christmas Crackers**

Pairing if Applicable: Edward / Bella  
>Title: Lightsabers, Leia and a Little Bit of Love<br>Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Twilight. I only use Stephenie Meyer's characters for my own non-profitable amusement. No infringement intended.  
>Brief Summary: After getting roped into attending Comic-Con by his boss, Edward is pleasantly surprised when Isabella is forced to man their company's booth with him. A geeky love story about what happens when you meet your perfect match among lightsabers, Leia and Leonard Nemoy.<p>

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><p>When Eric called me into his office, the last thing I thought he was going to say was, "Edward, I need you to man our booth at Comic-Con this year. James came down with shingles and looks absolutely dreadful. His face is all red and blotchy; let's just say that's not the image we need representing us."<p>

This trip shouldn't sound like nails on a chalk board to my ears, being a huge Star Wars fan and all, but it was the fact that my own brilliant idea had now come to punch me right smack dab in the middle of my face.

I'd suggested that to drum up business for our online auction site, it might be good for us to rent a space at Comic-Con, since the people who attended this event were our target audience. Geeks-R-Us as a name should be a dead giveaway, right? Our company handled an online auction house specifically for the collectors of science fiction memorabilia. That replica Starship Enterprise you found in the back of your closet? Or the Star Wars sheets you had on your bed through college but now you need some cash because your job at some didn't work out? Yeah, we were essentially the E-bay for people still living in their parent's basement. The other half of the business ran on the appraisals of these types of collections and memorabilia. Isabella Swan ran that side while I tried to market us to both sets of clientele.

Back to my revolutionary idea about having a booth at Comic-Con… Having gone to one many years ago, I knew costumes were all part of the ritual, the fun of attending such a conference. So I suggested we have our booth reps wear some kind of getup to join in the spirit of the event.

Yeah, so now I was going to have to dress like Han Solo and try not to stare at Heidi's boobs all day in a form fitting Leia slave costume.

I was screwed. Because as nice of a person Heidi was, she wasn't who I wished was wearing that costume. Nope, that would be my co-worker Isabella. I'd been fantasizing about her ever since I discovered she had the entire Star Wars figurine collection in her office, where I caught her acting out play fights between Darth and Han Solo at least once a week ever since.

She blushed from ears to chest when I first caught her speaking in the breathy voice of Darth Vader telling Han he was going be put on ice. She floundered around, saying it was her stress relief for when she had some dumb ass call her up and waste her time, but I had the feeling she just liked playing with them.

For the next week I pulled long hours trying to get everything perfect for our booth. Deciding which memorabilia to bring in order to showcase what we generally sold on our site, down to arguing with the printers about his mockup for our collateral pieces and backdrop. It was exhausting, but thrilling once everything started coming together. I'd even started to enjoy the thought of being dressed like my favorite on-screen character. For once I was glad James decided to be argumentative in a meeting, otherwise I'd be dressing like Spock. Nothing against the Star Trek series, but I preferred George Lucas' creation over the cheesy sixties television series.

After working here for a couple of years, you'd think I'd be used to Eric's random announcements by now, being the epitome of a dreamer, the absentminded entrepreneur in him just loved coming up with crazy ideas. But when he told me that Heidi had also backed out of the trip, I was floored. What the hell was in the water around here?

Only instead of shingles, Heidi was knocked up and had some kind of crazy ass morning sickness, causing her to have to take a leave of absence for the immediate future, or at least until she could spend ten minutes not puking her guts up.

Eric was furiously searching for someone in the office to accompany me who could fill Heidi's big shoes, or rather, ample bust to fill out the custom costume we now had in our possession.

The day before my trip, a hand slapped down on my desk with what looked like our Comic-Con brochure.

"So, I hear I'm joining you on this little, _adventure,__"_ Isabella sneered, looking down at me with nothing but pure disdain. "So now I'm the backup slut-du-jour who has to get mauled by pimply assed guys who haven't gotten over their Leia slave fantasy? Thanks a lot, Edward." Turning on her heel, she walked away without another word, except the final punctuation of how great her ass looked in the skin tight jeans she'd worn to the office today.

_Fuck, __I__'__m __screwed_. _Isabella __in __that __slave __costume? __I__'__m __going __to __have __a __boner __for __the __entire __four __days __we__'__re __forced __to __be__together. __And __from __the __sound __of __her __rage, __I __seriously __doubt __I __need __her __seeing __me __in __such __a __state, __especially __if __I __want __to __keep __my __dick __in __one __piece._

Shaking me from my X-rated thoughts, Eric walked into my office. "Edward, I assume you heard, but Isabella will be joining you in the booth this weekend. She's the best looking one in the office, who still might be able to fit into that outfit you made me get. She better wear it, or I'm taking this out of your next expense report."His voice and eyes gave away his teasing nature, as he wished me luck on our trip and walked off back to his office.

I didn't see Isabella again until I was seated in the terminal waiting for our flight. She walked up to me with a laptop case and garment bag. I was in mid-email on my Blackberry when the garment bag came flying at me.

"You can carry this stupid thing. I still can't believe I have to wear it. You and Eric owe me so fucking much," she grumbled, plopping down next to me, but reclaimed the garment bag out of my lap and smoothed it over the chair beside her.

"Isabella, if you remember correctly, the Leia slave costume _wasn__'__t_ my idea. It was Heidi's. I suggested the simple white robe she wears in the beginning of the movie, but Heidi refused to put her hair in 'Danish rings', if I recall right."

At my finger quotes around Danish rings, Isabella's mouth quirked to the side, the first inkling of a smile I'd seen from her in a very long time.

"I'm sorry. I'm really not used to wearing such little clothes, especially not as a representative of the company. I'm just really nervous actually."

Now that she mentioned it, her fingers were drumming on the knee that was bouncing to an unheard tune.

"Why? I mean, I get why you'd be a little uncomfortable about the costume, but why else?"

She exhaled heavily before telling me all about her extreme phobia of flying. The only reason she was as calm as she was, was due to the Valium she took in the cab on the way here.

"You drive to almost all your appraisal meetings? God, that sounds horrid."

"Yep, just about anything east of the Mississippi. If it's too far, I'll sometimes see if Alec can go instead, but it's not as bad as it sounds. I like driving, seeing the country and all that, but with such short notice, I don't have time to drive all the way to California."

"Where are you sitting?" I casually asked, curious if Eric had allowed her to upgrade to business class, something he never let me do on his nickel.

"Ugh, I think a middle seat somewhere in the back. Gianna said there was only two seats left in coach. Don't remind me. It's going to take a lot of Jack and gingers to get me through this flight."

I tried not to smile, but it was hard to keep a straight face. She looked so cute ranting about her seat assignment, arms waving around her head while a tiny vein popped up in the middle of her forehead effectively splitting it in two.

"Give me your ticket."

"Why?" she asked, but handed me the paper she'd been clutching since she sat down.

"Just trust me, okay?" I teased, asking her to keep an eye on my laptop bag before walking over to the counter to see if I could use my miles to upgrade her into business class with me, hoping to avoid having to carry her off the plane because she drank too much. I had more than enough miles after flying to quite a few trade shows and conferences this year, it seemed the least I could do for her.

After waiting in line for a few moments, I asked the woman behind the desk if the plane had any seats available in business class for a colleague of mine. Giving her my miles number and both of our tickets, I waited while she pulled up the necessary information.

"I see you're a platinum member, Mr. Masen. Let's see what I can do." After a few moments, she replied, "There's one seat available. Window, across the aisle."

"Is there any way to switch seats with the person on the other aisle? I'd really like to sit next to her. She has a bit of a fear of flying," I whispered conspiratorially, hoping she'd find my smile attractive enough to help with my request.

"Let's see, shall we?" Picking up the intercom she called out "Tanya Tompkins, please come to the gate check. Tanya Tompkins to the gate check."

We both stood, looking out into the crowd sitting around the gate to see who might approach her desk.

It wasn't but a moment before a haughty looking woman wearing a full length fur coat sauntered up, asking snottily what this was about.

"Ms. Tompkins, is there any way you could trade seats with Mr. Masen here? You're both on the aisle; you'd only have to switch sides of the plane."

"I selected my seat _well_ in advance. _Why_ in the world would I want to switch seats?"

"It's only across the aisle—"

Hearing enough from the woman, I decided to step in and help the poor desk clerk out, knowing a sure fire way to get the woman to comply.

"That's fine. I figured I'd save you from my friend's extreme fear of flying. She tends to get herself so worked up; she pukes for almost the entire flight…"

With a horrified expression on her face, the woman quickly acquiesced, giving up her seat readily at the thought of someone vomiting next to her.

I walked back to where I'd left Isabella with a huge grin on my face and her newly upgraded ticket in my hand.

"Here you go. Now you owe me one." I let the ticket flutter down into her lap as she opened up her eyes to see me standing in front of her, appearing to do some kind of deep breathing mediation thing while I was gone.

"What'd you do?" Glancing down at the words 'business class' made her let out a little squeal and unexpectedly jump up and hug me.

I wish I'd been prepared for that type of reaction out of my usually stoic and reserved co-worker, I would have relished in the feel of her body pressed up against mine, instead of standing there shocked with my arms hanging limply by my sides.

After her repeated thanks and questions regarding why in the world I had so many frequent flyer miles, we were called to board the plane. When Ms. Tompkins sped walked her way to the front of the line, I couldn't help but grin when she glanced over at Isabella with a look of pure disgust, to which Isabella just smiled causally, shrugging at me like she had no idea why this woman was staring at her.

Once we were settled into the seats, we both pulled out our Blackberries to check them one last time before having to turn them off.

"Edward, where are you staying? Gianna just sent me an e-mail saying something about a problem with my reservation."

"She copied me on it. I'm at the Marriot Marquis by the marina. It's a little bit away from the Convention, so they might still have rooms."

Isabella picked up the phone and had a quick discussion with our trusty travel coordinator Gianna; only from the sound of the frustrated sigh she let out there was no room at the inn.

"No luck. She called around to about twenty places and none of them have any availability. I guess the All-Star baseball game is in town the same weekend, so space is really tight."

I watched her intently as she quickly typed out replies to all her various messages, all the while thinking that I knew I shouldn't offer what I was going to offer.

"I… I,um."

"If you're going to suggest I stay in your room, that's not going to happen. Sorry, sport, but this trip is business, not pleasure." She winked at me in an attempt to soften her reply, but I heard her loud and clear, but she hadn't heard out my entire suggestion.

"Isabella, the only way I got a room was to use my Marriott points to upgrade to a suite. So, I have two bedrooms and I'm only planning on staying in one."

"You're making this way too easy for me, you know?" She smiled, and it was brilliant. She never even cracked a grin at the office, being more of the no nonsense; let's get down to business, type of co-worker. This made her extremely proficient at her job, but didn't really win her a lot of friends around the office.

We both continued working until the flight attendant gave us the no electronics spiel as they shut the door of the airplane.

It seemed like as soon as that door shut Isabella's nervousness ramped up quickly. Her hands were fidgety, knees bobbing up and down and she was mumbling to under her breath about the plane not crashing.

"Hey, are you going to be okay?" I whispered, unconsciously grabbing her hand and looking her in the eyes.

"No, does it look like it?" she spat, but apologized immediately after, reminding me to take everything she says from now until we landed with a grain of salt.

She started calming down a little bit after her second Jack and ginger ale, even becoming a little loose lipped.

"Do you know that Mike checks out my ass every single time I walk by his desk? He doesn't think I know, but I do."

"There's this collector in Pennsylvania who tried to get me to appraise his collection of moist towelettes featuring the cast from Star Trek."

"I still think that Star Wars was way better than Empire Strikes Back. I mean, come on, could Luke really survive in the frozen tundra like that? Why take ton-tons when they could have gotten there much faster if they took some sort of flying vehicle?"

I tried, but could hardly get in a word edgewise with her buzzed ramblings. It was honestly one of the cutest things I'd ever seen or heard. She'd never been this open with me, and I doubted anyone at the office had heard her story about the handsy collector in Hoboken.

"You're a really good listener," she slurred after her third drink, before I politely asked the flight attendant to bring over a bottle of water the next time she walked by.

"Isabella, can I ask you something?"

"Bella. Call me Bella. You're going to be sharing a room with me, the least you can do is call me that."

"Why are you so… so, um, serious around the office?" That was as polite as I could think to ask the question I'd been wondering since we'd been put together for this trip.

Her response was a loud chortle, and ended with a tiny snort as she tried to contain herself.

"You mean, why am I an uptight bitch at the office?" She smiled brightly, continuing her answer, "You've seen all the people in the office, right?"

Nodding my head I waited to see where she was going with this.

"So you know ninety percent are males, right? And of that ninety percent, how many do you think I'd actually be interested in speaking with outside of work?"

The light bulb went off immediately. We both worked in an office aptly named for the type of employee it hired.

Geeks-R-Us.

She must have seen my eyes grow wide with the revelation, because she continued to tell me that she had to play up the serious workaholic bitch in order to not only dissuade the men in the office from hitting on her, but to also have the type of clients we dealt with, take her seriously.

"How did you end up in the appraisal business anyhow?" I asked after a lull appeared in our conversation about all the dorks we worked with.

"Wow, I think you're one of the first people to actually ask me that question. It's funny really, my dad used to have this huge baseball collection. I'm talking probably ten boxes worth that had been hiding out in our basement for years when I was a kid. One day I stumbled upon them and asked him what they were. He spent so much time telling me the details of each of the cards and the players. It was as if these cards were completely entwined with his memories of childhood. When my mom died and we had to move into a smaller house, he asked me how much I thought he could get for them. Of course I didn't' know, but after spending so much time learning about them all, I sort of felt obligated to help him out."

"So it started with baseball, then what?" I was honestly curious now that she'd begun to tell me her story. I also had hoped keeping her talking would take her mind off the fact that we were now on our descent into San Diego.

"I eventually became the girl you came to when you wanted to trade something in the lunch room, then in college it was all about how much someone should start the bidding for an item on e-bay. For some reason, I just had a knack for research and remembering what things were worth what in the open market."

We continued our conversation until the plane finally bounced twice on the tarmac, causing Bella to suddenly realize she'd missed the entire landing.

"You did that on purpose," she whined, but from the grin across her face, I knew it was one sin I was pretty sure she'd forgive me for.

Once we arrived, we both turned our Blackberries on to see what we'd missed on the coast to coast flight.

"Well, it looks like you have a roomie. Gianna wasn't able to book me anything."

After reassuring her it was fine, we walked towards the taxi queue to head towards the hotel. It was already eight and I was hungry and tired, knowing we'd have a very long day tomorrow setting our booth up in time for the preview day.

After checking in, Bella and I decided to stay in and order room service, allow us to clean up and relax a little before heading to bed. I always had a hard time traveling west; the time zone change always messed with my sleep and eating patterns.

"Do you mind if I grab the first shower? It takes my hair forever to air dry," she asked, tilting her head in question, making her look adorably childlike.

"Sure, I need to make a few calls and check with the convention center to make sure our booth arrived."

I watched as she grabbed her toiletry bag and an armful of clothes as she walked from her room through the living room towards the shared bathroom, my mind a constant loop of what she might look like naked under the shower spray. Hearing the click of the door shook me from my thoughts, allowing me to get back to the task at hand. I'd have a little time later to hopefully work out my stress when I had a shower.

I spent the next half hour replying to panicked e-mails and calls from Eric, assuring him that the weekend would go well and I'd give him updates throughout the time we were here.

I'd just closed up my laptop when Bella emerged from the steamy bathroom, clad in a form fitting tank top and some kind of comfortable looking pants. Her hair was still tied up beneath the towel perched on her head.

When she got closer I had to laugh at the words printed across her t-shirt.

_You want to put your lightsaber where?_

"Sorry, it wasn't like I was expecting to share a room. It was all I had to bum around the room in." Shrugging, she left me sitting alone in the main room, and a new found appreciation for my coworker's choice in bed attire along with her sense of humor.

Dark and sexy, nice combo, I thought to myself, getting up to retrieve my own bag and grab a shower myself.

Before I could shut the door, I heard Bella shout out, "Hey, do you know what you want? I'm kind of starving?"

After taking a quick look over the menu, I decided on their Kobe burger, fries and a Heineken.

"I won't be long. Just want to rinse off the day."

As soon as the door shut behind me, I felt my body relax for the first time since Bella ran into me at the airport. I hadn't even realized how much pent up tension I'd been holding in until I'd finally had a few minutes alone.

I was surprised at how much I had been enjoying Bella's company. She wasn't anything like I'd imagined her to be, in fact, her intelligence and sense of humor was beyond my wildest dreams. She was sexy in a way that was subtle. Unlike Heidi who flaunted it everywhere she could, Bella wore conservative but fitted outfits. She spoke when she needed to and listened more often than not, almost as if she was trying to stay out of the limelight.

I let the hot water cascade over my tense shoulders and my mind drifted towards a much sexier version of Bella than her current t-shirt and lounge pants.

_She was standing before me in the Leia slave outfit, the swirl of bronze cupping her breast, just barely able to contain them._

_Glancing down at me, she smiled, running her fingers through my hair as I sat on the edge of the bed awaiting her next move._

"_Does this meet your expectations?" she asked, doing a twirl, the scarf that covered her ass fluttered around her and I could just nod my approval, not wanting to ruin the moment with words._

"_I've wanted this for so long." Leaning down, she whispers in my ear before continuing her descent to unzip my pants._

_She pulled my dick out, taking a long languid lick from base to tip before popping it into her mouth. The sight of her kneeling before me, her hair pulled back away from her face gave me a clear view of her plump lips moving rhythmically back and forth around my cock. It took everything I had to restrain myself at the intoxicating sight of her._

_I felt her humming around me just as my ears finally caught up with the feelings she was creating._

_Dun… dun dun dun dun…Dun dun dun…_

_It only took me a moment to realize she was humming the Star Wars theme, around my dick. _

_The woman couldn't be more perfect if I'd made her up._

_Oh wait… I just had._

I let out a loud moan that echoed across the bathroom as I released against the shower's white tile.

A loud knock on the door and Bella's voice calling to let me know room service arrived reminded me how completely inappropriate my shower jackoff session really was.

"I'll be right out. Thanks," I called, turning off the shower, thankful I'd been able to finish prior to being interrupted. If I thought I was tense now, I could only imagine how bad it could be with blue balls on top.

Taking a moment to compose myself before opening the door, I knew I'd need to remain coolly aloof if I was going to be able to remain co-workers with her instead of getting slapped with a sexual harassment suit after this weekend was over.

"Edward, hurry up, this burger is to die for." She was seated in front of the television, her plate perched precariously across her lap as she sat cross-legged on the sofa. Her mouth was full as she spoke, but was pointing to the room service cart only a few feet away.

She looked so relaxed in my room, and it appeared almost like we were a couple of lovers on a simple vacation to San Diego, should anyone have seen us from the outside.

"Edward, stop staring at me and eat," she urged, wiping her mouth off with a napkin. "I hope _Firefly_'s okay? I wasn't really up for the Jersey Shore or another rerun of CSI New York."

Grabbing my plate, I joined her on the other end of the sofa, replying that I'd enjoyed Firefly when it was on a few years ago.

"I forgot how great Nathan Fillion was in this show," she blurted out after we'd been sitting side by side in companionable silence for a few minutes.

This of course let to a rousing discussion about how wrong Fox was to cancel the show and our feelings about the Serenity movie. Which then turned into an all-out battle about which George Lucas movie was his pièce de résistance?

I of course thought Empire Strikes Back was his best movie, while she was a staunch supporter of the original.

During this entire time, we'd raided the mini bar and were on our third beer when her head shot up and looked at me with sheer terror.

"Crap, crap crap," she muttered, flying off the couch and into her room.

To say I was perplexed would have been an understatement.

"Edward, I need your help." Her voice was muffled, as if she was calling to me from the bottom of a well.

By the time I made it to her room, she was standing there in the full Leia costume, sort of.

Her body wasn't as curvaceous as Heidi's, leaving the top looking a little sad.

"We need to take this top part in a little. I can't possibly wear this looking like this." She enunciated her point by waving her hand in front of the gaping top. "Can you help pull the back until it's taut in the front? I saw a sewing kit in the basket over the TV. If you can just hold the spot, I'll wriggle out of it."

I was dumbstruck. How was I going to be able to stand here, holding her top while she wormed her way out of it and still remain professionally neutral? I was screwed.

"Edward? Can you help a girl out?" She was holding the top as flush to her body as she could, waiting for me to do my part.

"Sorry," I mumbled, walking around behind her to help. "Is there a reason why you didn't do this at home?" I was trying to avert my eyes as she put her arms up to wriggle out of the top. When she finally had extricated herself from the outfit and put her other shirt back on, I was thinking about what Darth Vader might look like naked in an effort to keep my boner from appearing.

"Thanks," she replied, taking the top out of my hands, holding the spot where she'd need to sew it. "I didn't have time. Eric only gave me the stupid thing last night before I left the office."

We both moved back to the main room so Bella could try her best to fix the outfit she'd be spending much of her weekend in. My mind continued to roll through the peripheral vision of her naked back when she put her shirt on. Her skin was creamy white, smooth and I wished more than anything to be running my hands slowly down her spine as I fucked her from behind.

_Stop._ I chided myself, trying to remain present in the conversation she was trying to have with me about what to expect at ComicCon.

After spending a little more time hanging out, I decided to turn in, exhausted from putting on the front of being unaffected by her presence for too long. "I'm going to turn in. I'll be heading in early to get things set up."

"I can join you, maybe help out? What time are you leaving?"

The words tumbled out of my mouth before I'd even had a chance to think about how much I actually needed some distance from her, "Honestly, it's mostly putting up tables and stuff, but if you want to help, that'd be great. I was planning on leaving around six, is that okay?"

"I don't mind. I'm sure I'm going to be up by then anyhow, time change and all." She held up the costume in her hands, telling me she'd head to bed once she'd finished what she was working on.

It took a long time to get myself to relax enough to fall asleep; knowing the woman of my dreams was on the other side of the bedroom door. How I longed to be able to tell her our conversation tonight was more entertaining and interesting than any of the dates I'd been on in the last five years. That the mere glimpse of her bare back was playing on a continuous loop because just seeing that small part of her had made me insane with lust. Not to mention a serious case of blue balls that took almost an hour of ignoring before it started to subside.

I fell asleep to the image of her in her tight t-shirt and jeans, laughing at something I'd said, her head thrown back, hair billowing down behind her.

I slept like a baby until the shrill ring of my wakeup call pulled me out of a great dream I'd been having about saving Bella from the grips of Jabba the Hut.

Stumbling into the common room, I saw that Bella was in the bathroom, and the coffeemaker was percolating quietly on the bar. Turning the TV on, I caught up with the morning headlines just as Bella emerged from the steamy bathroom.

"All yours. I'll be ready in a few. Did you want to grab a bite before we go, or just something later?"

Glancing at the clock by the television, I figured we could spare twenty minutes to eat a little breakfast and told her if she was ready before me, to go down and eat. I'd meet her as soon as I was finished.

"We'll have time to come back before the preview session right? I don't want to wear that costume longer than I have to."

"Oh, I figured we wouldn't wear our costumes until tomorrow. Just wear something comfortable today."

"Great, I'll see you in a few."

I took the few minutes after she left to focus on pulling myself together. The geeky side of me was excited to not only spend the day at Comic-Con, but to also spend it with another person who enjoyed Sci-Fi as much as I did. Hurrying, I sped through my shower and morning routine, eager to get my day started.

I made it down to breakfast only to find Bella seated with another person, a tall burly man who was speaking animatedly with her. She was smiling brightly and nodding along with whatever he said, but the image of her with another man burst my love-sick bubble. I should have known there were other people who would find her attractive, and perhaps those she would get along with better than me.

Before I had a chance to turn around, she waved me over to the table, quickly introducing me to her friend, Emmett McCarty. Seems he was a collector who'd hired her to appraise some of his original Battlestar Galactica memorabilia a few months ago.

He was a soft-spoken and eerily calm sort of guy. His personality just didn't seem to match his beefy exterior.

After breakfast we all shared a cab to the Convention Center before splitting up in different directions. His booth was located in a different hall than ours, but we exchanged numbers and said we'd get in touch about dinner or drinks later.

Bella and I worked together in relative silence. The occasional direction was given, but it was almost like we both knew what to do without being told. After a couple of hours the booth was mostly assembled and we decided to wander the hall to see what else was being showcased.

Having been here as a spectator before, made the quiet din of the hall seem eerie. The only people around right now were the exhibitors setting up their wares, but compared to the all-out noise we would experience a little later today was a bit mind-boggling.

We'd just turned a corner when Bella started laughing. Not the dainty giggle you hear from the demure type of lady, but the full on belly laugh that you can't help but smile at.

She was standing in front a booth that was hocking glow in the dark condoms with the tag line 'Wrap your Lightsaber up.' And 'Use The Force Luke'.

Once her laughter subsided she waved three packets at me, "What do you think, Skywalker Blue, Yoda Green or Darth Vader Red?"

It took me a second to figure out that the condom colors were actually related to the color of each of the characters' lightsaber in the movies.

"Why not try them all," I commented as nonchalantly as possible, all the while trying to keep my mind on anything but using them later tonight.

I watched as she paid the man still working on setting up his booth, for the Star Wars condom set, and continued meandering through the hall.

"Can I ask you something?" Bella asked quietly just as we had returned to our booth.

"Depends, can I plead the fifth if It has anything to do with my Dungeon and Dragons playing habits back in high school?" I teased, even though I probably would have told her every single embarrassing moment on the road to my current geeky status.

"Why are you single? I mean, you're handsome, intelligent, and come to the rescue of women who apparently can't book accommodations properly."

I didn't reply, but looked at her with what I was sure was a stupid expression.

Her blush rushed to her cheeks before she'd even gotten her apology out, "Shit, I'm being forward, aren't I? I'm sorry. I tend to speak before my brain…"

"No, no. It's okay," I assured her, placing my hand on her arm as she'd tried to turn away and continue with her self-chastisement. "I just wasn't expecting it, is all. Um, I don't know why. I had a pretty long relationship about a year ago, but it just sort of died off. We both had become comfortable, but weren't really in love with the other anymore. Since then, I guess I've been focused on helping Eric get this company off the ground, I haven't really had much time or inclination to date."

"Huh," was her succinct reply.

"What about you? I haven't seen you in a hurry to leave the office at night. No beau?" I asked, my voice hitching higher than it should have if I was only mildly curious about the answer.

This time it was her turn to give me the fish face of wide eyes and gaping mouth.

"Uh, well, you see…" she stammered before finally spitting it out, "I've sort of had a crush on _you_."

It took me a second to register what she said, but by the time I did, she'd already disappeared down the expo hall, her brown hair swishing behind her like a cape.

"Bella!" I shouted, speed walking after her in an attempt at not looking like a total jackass. "Bella, stop!"

She must have heard me the second time, because she stopped abruptly, causing some dude in really ugly brown pants to run right into the back of her.

"Listen, if you don't like me, that's okay. I, I… I just get all tongue tied when I'm around you and I know we work together, so if this is going to make things weird, I can probably figure out someplace else to stay—"

I kissed her. Hard. Just to shut her up. She was rambling and looking so worried I had to do something.

"The feeling's mutual," I murmured against her neck after she finally kissed me back. We stood there, grinning like idiots in the middle of the convention center before someone finally shouted 'get a room'.

"So… after we finish putting this booth together, what do you say about seeing how well these lightsaber condoms work?" She smiled mischievously, grabbing my hand and walking us back towards the booth, seemingly in a hurry to finish our work.

Ten feet from the booth, I stopped dead on.

"Bella, did you just see who I thought I saw?" I whisper-shouted, tugging on her arm.

"Oh. My. God. That's Leonard Nemoy!" She burst out, her hand slipping out of mine as she rushed toward the now elderly icon.

I didn't even try to compete. She was my perfect match. One geek meant for another and I couldn't wait to see what the future held. Who knew, maybe we could get Darth Vader to officiate our wedding someday.

Until then, I'd be happy just arguing our varying viewpoints about whether the Millennium Falcon or a Tie Fighter would fly faster.

Heaven On Earth.


End file.
